Sussex – Uncomfortable with the violence, sexuality and coarse language of the popular HBO series Boardwalk Empire, Sussex grandfather William Sheppard made it known to his two teenage grandchildren that he was in Atlantic City one time. “Oh around ’86,” said the 71-year-old retired accountant during the latest online-streaming family airing of the prohibition-era drama Sunday evening.
“Friend of mine was going up to see some relatives and was looking for some company on the road,” he said, during a dramatic scene in which one of the show’s main characters is shockingly killed after being shot in the back of the head. “So I thought about it for a bit, and after awhile I said ‘sure.'”
According to sources, the grandfather was visiting his son’s family in St. Andrews, and after dinner was forcibly submitted to the program.
“There was no way my kids were going to watch anything else,” said Dan Sheppard, William Sheppard’s son. “And my father had the most comfortable chair in the house, so he wasn’t going anywhere.”
Ignoring the utter depravity of the characters depicted in the award-winning series, the grandfather chose instead to focus on his brief four-day stay in the New Jersey city where the show is mainly set. “Met some nice people; they’re different down there though.”
As of press time the Sussex-born Grandfather still didn’t understand why anyone would want to watch something like that.